BOC to audit vehicle importers’ tax compliance

After below-target collections from value-added tax (VAT) and sugar-sweetened beverages elicited government audit of taxpayers, the Bureau of Customs (BOC) is now also double-checking if importers paid the correct higher excise taxes slapped on motor vehicles under the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) Act.

This was confirmed by Customs Commissioner Rey Leonardo B. Guerrero Tuesday during the House ways and means committee hearing on the first year of implementation of the TRAIN law.

Sought for details, BOC spokesperson Erastus Sandino B. Austria told the Inquirer that audit notification letters were issued by the agency’s post clearance audit group (PCAG) on Jan. 11, which were later served to nine car importers on Jan. 22-23.

“It’s a compliance audit. We are not saying outright that they have violations. It is only to check if they are complying with customs regulations relative to correct declaration and payment of duties,” Austria explained.

He noted the Board of Investments had a report that one manufacturer had been misclassifying its imports.

Still, the BOC’s PCAG was at the pre-audit stage, conferring with the subjects to submit the necessary documents, Austria stressed.

Based on the latest Department of Finance (DOF) data, actual collections of excise taxes from vehicles reached P12.2 billion during the first three quarters of 2018, higher than the P11.6-billion goal for the period.

The DOF earlier ordered the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) to conduct an audit of sugary drink manufacturers’ excise tax payments, while the country’s biggest tax-collection agency will also pre-audit percentage tax payments to see if there are taxpayers taking advantage of the higher VAT-exempt threshold for small businesses under the TRAIN law.

To recall, the TRAIN law raised the exemption from the 12-percent VAT for small-and-medium enterprises (SMEs) to P3 million from P1.9 million previously.

Also, Assistant Commissioner Alfredo V. Misajon said the BIR requested an audit on all producers of sugar-sweetened beverages.

The latest preliminary DOF data showed the government failed to meet the target net revenues from the new or higher levies mandated by the TRAIN law during the nine-month period last year.

The net revenues generated from the TRAIN law at end-September 2018 amounted P41.9 billion, 5.3 percent below the P44.3 billion target.